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Wondercon: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Interview: Kristin Kreuk

Four years removed from playing Lana Lang on the beloved CW show Smallville, Kristin Kreuk is back with a new take on the Beauty and the Beast tale. At our round-table discussion, Kreuk talks about how the show has evolved, what fans can expect in the final few episodes of the season and what she thinks about the die-hard fan base known as Beasties.

Kristin Kreuk: These are new. (plays with microphone on an audio recorder). Is this a new thing? (laughs) OK, I’ll answer questions now. (laughs)

Q: What do we have coming up for Cat and Tess’ partnership?

KK: Well, we get them to be partners again which I missed. Nina and I were like, ‘OK, that’s it. We’re done with this mad-at-each-other business.’ So we get to see them be a team and it’s not going to be the same way they used to because the procedural kind of, like, died, so it’s more about dealing with Muirfield and there’s some big storylines for them in regards to that.

Q: Is that going to be the focus of that few episodes of Season One?

KK: Yes. Very much so. It’ll be a lot of Muirfield, a lot of Evan, Gabe… and also coming in to a more personal storyline where you start thinking about a future with the person you love and realize that future is pretty…, yeah, dark. (laughs)

Q: You mentioned the procedural part went away, why is that?

KK: You know, I’ll be honest, I think it’s a season one thing where you try different things and you’re like, “This works, this works, this isn’t working.’ I think the best procedurals are procedurals. They’re just pure procedurals. Cuz the stories have to be so complex and you’ve got to make sure that every little piece and when you’re dealing with the mythology and the romance, it’s hard to keep all that in , so if we can just do mythology and romance, there’s still a procedural element in that you a certain episodic thing that happens. I think we can do a better story this way.

Q: Reading at upcoming episode descriptions and it looks like Evan’s going to start poking around a bit?

KK: Well, Evan just saw the Beast jump off of a balcony, so that’s problematic. (laughs) And not only that, he was kissing the woman that he loves so that’s going to be a big focus in the next episode after this little hiatus of ours and it really is Evan’s story and how he handles that.

Q: Do you think that there’s only one beast?

KK: Well, I… that’s an interesting question. (laughs) Well there are obviously more than one. I… you’re… the next episode, you’re going to find so much, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s so much about the experiments, ‘What’s going on?’ ‘What’s happening currently?’ ‘What’s Muirfield doing now?’ All of that stuff is pretty revealing of what is going on with the organization.

Q: So we really get to dig into Muirfield.

KK: You really get to dig in. (laughs)

Q: We also don’t know a lot about how Cat’s mother died.

KK: That’s also part of the focus of the last… so we’ll find out more about how she died, what the circumstances surrounding that are and how there’s secrets around Catherine’s family that Vincent may or may not know about that he’s been keeping from her.

Q: There’s some pictures of you being reunited with Erica [Durance aka Lois Lane from Smallville]. Is there any chance that she’ll be guest starring?

KK: Erica and I and Allison [Mack aka Chole from Smallville] and I are really good friends. I just had dinner with Erica the other night. She’s got her show, so she’s busy being a doctor. She’s in Toronto until September and we’ve talked about stories. They’ve both said that they would be willing to come and play. That doesn’t mean anything necessarily, but I’d want it to be the right role. I’d love to have them, they’re both awesome.

Q: Are there any Smallville people that are planning to pop by?

KK: The girls are really the ones that I’ve talked to. There’s nothing set in stone and it’s all just talk and it won’t happen this season. We’re almost done shooting the season, but if we had a second season and there was the right story, I know that it would be fun for us.

Q: How much have the producers clued you into what the season finale is going to be?

KK: I know the whole thing. (laughs) So…

Q: Would you mind re-enacting it for us right now.

KK:(laughs) No. (laughs) I won’t do it. (laughs)

Q: What about next season?

KK: I can’t think that far ahead. We don’t even know if we have a second season.

Q: When will you find out?

KK: Well, I think we’ll find out close to upfront (mid-May). Because the show is performing decently but not like, exceedingly well, we’ve just got to wait and see.

Q: You guys have got some die hard fans though.

KK: They’re… rabid. I don’t know what we tapped into. It feels stronger than Smallville fans in some ways. The intensity. It’s a smaller group, but the intensity of it is so strong, it blows my mind.

Q: What do you think it is?

KK: I don’t know. It sort of feel similar to a Twilight thing? I think.

Q: That can be a good thing.

KK: Yea, I think it is. I think it’s really wonderful how passionate they are about a love story. I don’t know how we did that. I really don’t and I’m kind of in awe of it. Like, ‘Wow, they really are committed to this.’

Q: Were you surprised that Cat and Vincent got to kiss so soon in the series?

KK: That wasn’t the original plan. Originally, the plan was to hold off. But it’s obvious we changed the direction of the show so much. I’m surprised, but I like it. I like exploring the relationship as opposed to, ‘No, Yes, No, Yes,’ you know, that’s not as interesting to me. Maybe it’s because I’m 30 and I just want to know (laughs). I wanna know, let’s get in the relationship, let’s see where it goes from there. (laughs)

Q: It sounds like there’s going to be trouble in the future. He has been keeping secrets, so how will you keep the romance going and keep it interesting?

KK: It’s funny, I watched this… I’m going to go into a spiel, I always do this… I watched this talk show that was really great. It was about desire versus like, love and long term relationships (laughs), just to get into this topic. But it’s interesting because part of what keeps up desiring somebody has to do with distance, them being in their prime, like seeing the person that you’re drawn to or attracted to, like say they’re a singer, singing and you’re like, ‘Wow, they’re so attractive.’ So with Vincent and Catherine, their lives are always on the line. There’s always a threat keeping them apart, so desire (makes the number one with her pinkie) is innately there all the time, it’s like you’re constantly, possibly losing this person that you love. There’s never any stillness. There’s almost never enough time to be in a love space, which is more about familiarity and building a safety and a comfort with somebody, which they have, but it’s constantly (smacks hands together) being challenged, that there’s always that desire, which is what the audience always likes to see, is that heat, you know. But in that kind of dangerous environment, it’s always there. (laughs) That’s my spiel. (laughs)

Q: So Vincent is always the villain on the show to everyone except for Cat and J.T. Do you think there’s ever a moment where there will be acceptance for him?

KK: I don’t know. I mean, if I look at it purely from a drama perspective, I don’t think that would be very interesting but for his sake, I hope there would be. As long as Muirfield’s around and the people behind Muirfield are around, that won’t happen. And as long as he doesn’t have full control over himself, that won’t happen.

Q: I’m assuming the answers that we get at the end of the season will just lead to more questions in the next season.

KK: Yes. Of course. (laughs) How else would it be? (laughs)

Q: Can you sort of tease what direction the show will go as it closes out season one?

KK: Ok. Wow. We’ll find out who’s like, kind of the head of Muirfield, which is a big deal. Of course, there’ll be a huuuge fight (laughs) by the end of the season Catherine and Vincent are going to be in a situation where, like, I hate using these terms cuz they’re so vague, but I have to be vague,… everything has changed between them. Her understanding of her entire life is different. He’s in a bad… situation. (laughs) Just… it’s bad and they have to figure it out. I don’t know how they’re going to. It’s a complicated situation. (laughs)

Q: Do you ever go online and read the forums and see what fans are saying about the show?

KK: Well, now that I’m on Twitter, it’s like constant. Which I never used to do. But with Twitter (laughs), you see everyone’s opinions right away. Which is, I think, good and bad. Because you don’t want to shape everything to general public opinion, you know, you want to have a story that you’re telling outside of that, but yea, it’s interesting. It’s interesting to watch that unfold.

Q: What originally got you into this?

KK: Shari and Jennier. I really love the girls who created the show. They’re just, I love them. And I can go, ‘This thing in the script isn’t working for me, it feels like this,’ and they’re like, ‘Ok,’ and work on it. (laughs) It’s just really special that way.

That’s not all though. I know you guys can’t get enough, so here’s a video interview. And yes, she laughs a lot.

Thank you so much for this interview! Great questions and answers. A little worried about the “huuuge fight” but I guess that goes with their particular territory. So many great storylines to explore…it would be such a shame if this show didn’t get a second season!

Am a BEASTIE and loving BATB to death. The unexpected hiatus really hits hard and trying to survive BATB COLD TURKEY is tough. Like most Beasties can’t wait for 18th April, with what has been revealed there is so much to look forward to.Xoxo beastie

Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely helpful information particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this particular information for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.

I didn’t shoot video for this interview. It was just a 10 minute round-table conversation with Kristin. Other sites like Clevver TV shot video interviews though, so you’ll probably find clips on their site.

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